My Mate Forever
by Omegathyst
Summary: Nick had no interest in having a family or mate till he started falling for his partner Judy. But there are trials they must face as an interspecies couple, but it will be worth it if they make it through them.
1. The Wolfgang

"Nick, Judy. I have a tough mission for you two."

Nick's ears perked up, he had only been police officer for a few months and already a tough mission was in store for him?

Meanwhile, Judy looked like she was going to burst out of her seat. Nick gave a soft smirk, it always made him happy to see his bunny partner so enthusiastic about their job.

"Don't launch out of your seat yet Officer Judy." Chief Bogo told her. "There has been a wolf pack that used to be in the outskirts of Zootopia. But recently, we've seen members of them robbing young prey animals."

"It appears that all members we've sighted have a black star on their muzzles." Chief Bogo added. "Here on this folder are some spots outside of Zootopia that we believe may be home to these black-starred wolves. Apprehend as many as you two can and report your findings."

"Yes sir!" Judy replied, taking the folder. "C'mon Nick! These wolves aren't going to catch themselves!"

Nick smiled and was ready to follow Judy running out the room when Chief Bogo gave Nick his own smirk.

"Ah shut up." Nick laughed nervously.

 _He knows, I wouldn't be surprised if the whole ZPD knew. Except Judy, or she definitely would've confronted_ _me_ _about it._

Nick averted Bogo's gaze and quickly followed Judy's trail. He noticed Clawhouser looking at him and Judy like they were the most adorable pair in Zootopia.

 _So glad_ _Judy_ _hasn't_ _caught onto that,_ _but if I_ _don't_ _say anything soon, they might tell her themselves._

He finally met up with Judy at the police car where she was in the driver's seat throughly looking through the files.

"So Carrots-"

"We should probably head to the small alley down the block from Sloth's first!" Judy gave a huge smile. This after all, was their first dangerous mission assigned by Chief Bogo.

Nick was very confused on why the Chief put his faith in a fox and a rabbit, even though they've accomplished so much. He was worried that none of this could be occurring to his bunny friend, as she was too excited.

"Yeah, are you worried at all?" Nick asked.

"Being an officer is usually a dangerous job, I'm just surprised we haven't got to do this sooner." Judy replied.

Nick nodded shyly and Judy started the car.

"You've been doing great as my partner Nick, try not to be nervous." Judy patted his knee and started driving.

Nick felt a little better, he had started to notice how encouraging and sweet Judy could really be, it helped him do his best when he knew someone believed in him.

That changed quickly when his heart sunk as Judy drove to the dark outskirts of Zootopia. She drove the car slower as she saw homeless animals in the alleys. She stopped when the alleys were appearing empty.

"There's nobody here." Nick whispered.

He jumped and held Judy as he heard loud howls.

"Nick, it's OK. Look at me." Judy reassured him. Looking into her purple eyes reminded him why he loved her so much.

"Thank you Carrots." Nick smiled.

The howling got louder and they both flinched at the sound of loud paws.

Judy turned off the car and grabbed her taser, exiting the car.

"Carrots! _What're_ _you doing?!"_ Nick gasped, snapping out of his trance.

He opened the door and his heart dropped as he saw several big wolves surrounding them, all with black stars on their muzzles.

"What's a stupid bunny and a scrawny fox doing here?!" A huge brown wolf snarled.

"We should give them a lesson or two." Another growled, he had a sharp knife in his paw and leaped at Judy.

Judy tased him and Nick tased the brown wolf talking earlier. Many wolves ran off realizing they were officers.

Nick put the two paralyzed wolves in handcuffs and and put them in the back seats.

"What, are you two _doing_ with my pack members?"

Judy, who was still outside of the car, froze when she saw a big black wolf with a white star on his muzzle.

"You're...the..."

"Leader? Yes I am, _pipsqueak."_ The Alpha wolf laughed evilly. "You'll look much better as diced meat!"

The Alpha bolted towards Judy, she lifted the taser but the wolf smacked it across the alley out of reach and clawed Judy's uniform.

 _JUDY!_

Nick dropped his taser and slammed himself headfirst into the Alpha's chest. Anger overwhelmed him as he sank his teeth into the wolf's shoulder.

Judy was shocked and picked up Nick's taser, Nick jumped off in time and Judy tased the leader wolf. He fell and Judy began dragging him into the trunk.

"Cottontail? All you alright?" Nick panicked as he ran to his partner.

"Yeah, it's just a scratch- _NICK!"_ Judy gasped. "Your back!"

Judy ran behind him and Nick winced as he felt a burning feeling.

"You have a long slash down your back!" Judy told him.

Nick felt bruised from the force of attacking the wolf as well, and finally realizing how beaten up he felt, he collapsed. The last thing he heard was Judy screaming out to him.

* * *

Nick woke up in the hospital, he saw a pinto mare in a Nurse's uniform walk up to him.

"Hello, I'm Nurse Hilda." The mare greeted him gently. "Officer Nick Wilde, yes?"

"Yeah." Nick muttered. "Where's Judy? Is she OK?"

"She's faring much better as she's only had a small slash on her chest." Nurse Hilda explained. "You'll have to spend a week or two here till we can give you the OK to leave."

"Thanks, when can I see her?" Nick asked.

"Tomorrow morning should be free to let her visit. She's still recovering, but she should be ready to leave before the week's over." Nurse Hilda smiled. "I'll let her know that you've woken up."

Nurse Hilda checked his IVs and wrote some things some down on a clipboard before leaving.

Nick sighed, he hardly knew why he straight-up attacked the Alpha instead of tase him. All he knew was that he saw him hurt his Carrots, and he lost it.

 _I love her so much, oh my god...I could've lost her that day..._

Then Nick realized.

 _This is a dangerous job, either of us could get killed without warning. I have to tell Judy how I feel soon, or it may be too late..._


	2. The New Bunny Cop

Judy woke up in the hospital the next morning and was delighted that she'd be able to check on Nick.

 _He saved my life...what a hero_

Judy felt a feeling a warmth all over her body that made her blush and smile in a silly way. Nick had saved her, he was full-on ready to fight a huge wolf to save her.

She saw Nurse Hilda appear and a idea popped into her head.

"Hey, Nurse Hilda? Could I go outside the hospital for a minute? I wanted to get something for Nick." Judy asked.

"Of course, just let me go with to make sure you make it through the hospital okay." Nurse Hilda replied.

Nurse Hilda escorted Judy to the garden right outside the hospital and with her permission, Judy plucked some of the roses off the bushes.

"Oh, hello Officer Judy. I didn't realize you were already being let out the hospital."

Judy looked up and saw Chief Bogo, and to her curiosity, a thickset dark brown bunny in a police uniform with lop ears and ocean blue eyes.

"We were coming to visit the two of you, we've gotten a new recruit. Another bunny in fact." Chief Bogo explained, gesturing to the buck next to him. "Meet Officer Harvey."

"Hello!" Officer Harvey's eyes lit up as he eagerly shook Judy's paw. "You're an _amazing_ officer I must say! You inspired me to follow my dream! I wanted to be an officer, but I figured I'd always be a pudgy rabbit so I worked for the library-"

"Slow down, furball." Chief Bogo snapped. "You'll be running your mouth for hours at that pace, you'll be able to interact with Judy more as her temporary partner."

 _What?_

"That's what I came to the hospital to tell you." Chief Bogo told Judy. "Nick will need more time to recover, and we need someone to train the new recruit. So this should solve both problems."

"Yikes! You dropped your roses, Officer Judy!" Harvey caught all of them in one paw and handed them to her. "Don't want to get such perfect flowers dirty."

Judy was surprised at his intense gaze and suspected his statement was more than literal.

"I suppose you could tell Nick as well about your temporary partner." Chief Bogo suggested.

"Oh! Of course!" Judy snapped back into paying attention and held onto her roses close. "It was nice to meet you Harvey."

Harvey beamed at her and she turned around and walked back into the hospital where Nurse Hilda lead her to her injured partner.

His eyes were lazy and he looked like he was going to fall asleep till he saw Judy and his eyes widened as he saw the hospital gown looked beautiful on her as she held a few roses in her paws. To him she looked like a bride to get married.

 _Even in hospital attire she looks amazing, I would love to be with her..._

"Dumb fox." Judy snickered, hugging him. "What were you thinking leaping at that wolf?"

"I was thinking that he could've really hurt you Carrots." Nick replied more seriously. "The ZPD better have a strong police officer to keep you safe on your missions while I'm in here."

"About that..." Judy pondered. "We have a new bunny recruit that will be my temporary partner."

"Really?" Nick asked curiously as he took the roses that Judy gave to him. "Who is she?"

" _He._ And he's a dark brown thick bunny, his name is Harvey." Judy explained.

Nick's ears flattened and his heart dropped.

 _A male bunny, who could be a more perfect candidate for Judy's love? No, I love her! This is already my worst nightmare!_

"Nick? Are you okay? You're clawing the blanket." Judy whispered.

"I just have an itch somewhere." Nick lied, trying his hardest to keep his anger at bay. "I'll have to meet this Harvey sometime. Sounds like a cool guy."

"Yeah, he's definitely a big fan of me. He said he was inspired by me, isn't that _awesome?_ " Judy smiled excitedly. "Animals are looking up to me! It's more than I could ever ask for Nick..."

Judy looked at Nick with happiness, and he smiled.

 _"You look beautiful."_

"I do?" Judy asked. Nick felt extremely embarrassed when he realized he had said that out loud.

"Um, yeah. Course." Nick chuckled, trying to play it off. "Um, when are they letting you out of the hospital?"

"In two days." Judy replied eagerly. "And by the end of the week, I'll be able to perform my duties as officer again!"

"That's great, Cottontail." Nick's eyes softened.

 _There's nobody I would want more as my mate, and maybe even mother of our kits..._

Nick was surprised at the deep thoughts he had of her, like that they could spend the rest of their lives together, united in partnership and love.

 _I have to get out of this hospital soon, I can't lose her to that recruit..._

"Judy, we'll need to do some regular tests to make sure that you're recovering well in a minute." Nurse Hilda told her. "And the same for you Nick Wilde."

"C'mere Carrots." Nick whispered softly.

Judy lifted on her toes and hugged Nick once more before following the Nurse.

* * *

 **Several days later**

Nick was bored in his hospital bed, whilst Judy was back in her officer duties. He asked her to text him when she could.

He looked at social media when he had nothing else to do, and on Pawbook, he saw Judy Hopps tagged in posts made by Harvey Wildflower:

 **First day of the job with Judy Hopps! Couldn't of had a more awesome time with my amazing friend!**

 **Me and some of the officers went out to dinner, it was amazing to see Judy chug down that many Wheat Floats!**

Nick saw a picture of the officers excitedly banging their fists on the table as Judy was chugging a Wheat Float, Clawhouser was seen video taping it. And a dark brown bunny that seemed to be none other than Harvey was sitting right next to her.

The worst part was his blue eyes were looking at her like she was the most majestic thing he ever laid eyes on.

 _No, please don't let me lose her!_

Nick snarled in frustration, he wanted to punch him for looking at her like that.

Suddenly his phone vibrated, he looked and saw it was Judy.

 **Judy: Hey Nick! Sorry, I've been so busy studying a case with Harvey and going out to eat. How've you been?**

Nick's anger subsided a little, it wasn't Judy's fault that she was too beautiful for an animal to keep his eyes off her.

 **Nick: It's been very boring. At least I'm making progress, I hope to get out the beginning of next week.**

 **Judy: That's great! I've missed your funny remarks and little smirks, maybe we could go out and enjoy the city a little when you're ready to leave?**

 **Nick: I would love that.**

Nick brightened, maybe he wouldn't lose her after all.


	3. Enjoy the City, Wilde

It had been a week, and Nick was more than ready to bolt out the hospital. The pain of his healing wounds were nothing compared to seeing Judy with Harvey.

Fortunately, Judy was waiting to pick him up from the hospital. And once Nick went through checking out, he almost wanted to leap into the car window on all fours as soon as he saw Judy's face.

He walked over and sat in the front seat next to her and smirked.

"Missed me Carrots?"

"Maybe." Judy teased. "I could've really used you there. Harvey wouldn't stop asking me out till for some reason he stopped."

" _He asked you out?"_ Nick hissed.

"Yeah, when my parents heard they wouldn't leave me alone. Saying 'Judy settle down.' I mean I have so many siblings already having grandkits that why would it-"

" _Judy."_ Nick gasped. "Why...did you say yes?"

"I felt bad for him, so we went on one date. It wasn't bad actually." Judy replied, then she noticed the almost heartbroken look on Nick's face. "But I firmly told him I wasn't interested."

Nick looked ahead as she started driving, he felt unconvinced and scared.

"Judy...why were you not interested?" Nick persisted and then lied. "He seemed cool."

"Hmmm, I don't know." Judy sighed. "I mean, I'm not just going to be with _anybody."_

Judy's ears flattened as she stopped at a red light and buried her face in her paws.

 _"Cottontail?"_ Nick whispered. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know what's wrong with me." Judy muttered. "Many does would've took some rabbit like Harvey in a heartbeat. I never intended to fall for anyone."

"You fell for someone else?"

"...my feelings are conflicted, Wilde." Judy started driving at the green light. "I'm sorry for bringing you into this."

 _I_ _would_ _want_ _nothing more than to be_ _brought_ _deeper into your life._

"It is perfectly fine Carrots." Nick smiled to prove it. "So who does the lucky rabbit look like?"

"That's the problem. He _isn't_ a rabbit." Judy sighed. "When I told my parents who I liked, they weren't really happy."

"What? Is he like a criminal?" Nick started pushing further. Who else could Judy be seeing?

"Ha, more like former con artist. " Judy laughed, her eyes widened as she realized what she said and she looked away.

Meanwhile Nick looked like he was going to burst out of his seat. He wanted to kiss her and make her his. But he decided he wanted to tease her some more.

"Oh? A con artist so to say?" Nick gave his signature smirk.

As they reached another red light, Judy turned around and gave a soft gasp as Nick's face was close to her's. His nose brushed her head and his smile grew.

"By that do you mean..." Nick's mouth was now softly speaking to her delicate ears. "...Finnick?"

"What?!" Judy snapped as Nick busted into hysterical laughter. "Nick!"

He noticed Judy couldn't help but smile at his stupid joke. They finally stopped at a nice looking restaurant called Elephant Garden.

"This isn't another elephant biased restaurant?" Nick asked.

"No actually, the manager here is really nice." Judy reassured him.

As they got out of the car, Nick cornered her near the door and smiled.

"Judy Hopps." Nick said. "Are you saying that you like _me?"_

Judy's wide purple eyes looked up at her partner and felt turned on as a small rabbit being pinned against the wall by her attractive partner. She was hardly aware of her shaking legs.

"Y-yes, Nick." Judy stammered, she was usually so strong. No one had ever made her feel this weak.

Nick took in every feature of her, playing with her with his eyes. He held his paw against her waist and kissed her softly. He felt Judy put her paws on his cheeks and push the kiss deeper, which Nick had no protests too.

Judy noticed animals gawking as they passed by the two and she pulled away.

"What's wrong?" Nick asked her right away.

"They're glaring at us." Judy looked puzzled. "What did we do?"

"Well Cottontail, if prey and predator don't always get along, how do you think they're going to react to the two kissing?" Nick suggested. "Don't worry, maybe seeing us will encourage them to do the same."

Judy smiled but on the inside she was thinking how stupid she was not to notice that there were no interspecies relationships in Zootopia. Would the city be ashamed of fox-rabbit hybrids running around?

 _I definitely should've thought more about this..._

They entered the restaurant and the waitress gave a distasteful look before giving them a small booth in the darker corner.

"I can hardly read my menu." Judy pointed out, squinting to look at the font.

"Seems find to me." Nick teased. "I got night vision remember?"

"I...I don't know why I didn't think this through." Judy sighed.

"What, the menu?"

"No, _us."_ Judy replied. "I was so used to being in your company that I didn't realize how others would react to us."

"Carrots, as long as all they do is stare and make faces, they can't do anything else about it." Nick reassured her. "Unless, you'd prefer a nice rabbit instead-"

"No Nick, I like _you."_ _I wanna be with you._ "I guess it's just going to be harder than I thought."

"Well I'm here for you." Nick stretched out his paw and put in on Judy's. Judy was so mesmerized by Nick's green eyes full of love that she barely noticed her phone was ringing.

She took one paw out from under Nick's and picked up her phone. The other voice talked some things Nick couldn't hear for a few minutes, then Judy's eyes lit up.

"What is it?" Nick asked her.

"My sister Rachel..she's had kits!" Judy squealed. _"I'm an aunt!"_

"I thought with 200 plus siblings you'd be an aunt sooner." Nick chuckled.

"Well, I'm one now!" Judy said, beaming. "After we eat, I'm going to the Bunnyburrow! You can come with if you want."

"That'd be great." Nick smiled.

And so they ate, happily conversing the whole time before they took a train to Bunnyburrow in the evening.


	4. Becoming an Aunt

The Train made it to Bunnyburrow and Judy raced ahead of Nick, presumably eager to see her newborn nephews and nieces at the Bunnyburrow Hospital.

When they got in the lobby Nick sat on a chair meant for rabbits, so it felt slightly uncomfortable to sit on the chair as his partner got into the long line of rabbits at the reception, all of them demanding to get in and see their relatives and/or friends who've had kits.

 _They multiply very quickly here in Bunnyburrow, so the hospital must always be this busy._

After a while Judy gestured for Nick to come over and he followed her and the nurse to a room. He saw Judy's parents, several of Judy's siblings, and beside the doe that appeared to be Rachel was a black Dutch rabbit wearing a pink shirt with a carrot on it.

"What is a sneaky fox doing here?" the black Dutch rabbit huffed, narrowing his orange eyes at Nick.

"Chuck, it's just Judy's partner at the ZPD." Rachel reassured him. "He's not going to hurt our kits."

However Judy's parents did not like that he was there, and Nick assumed that it was because they knew she liked him. They just didn't know he liked her too, but he didn't think it would help.

"Judy! You showed up!" one of Judy's little sisters squealed, oblivious to the tension in the air. "Rachel had _eight kits!_ Could you believe it?!"

"I can Cassie." Judy snickered, hugging her little sister. "How's coming up with names for eight kits going Rachel?"

"Well, me and my husband have already come up with a few knowing that we'd have a lot of kits." Rachel chuckled. "So far we have Debby, Albert, Sam, and Maxine."

Judy walked closer and saw that they were European-Black Dutch hybrids with dapples of white, brown, and black. She smiled and kept thinking of more names.

"How about Finnick after my friend?" Nick suggested. "The little runt looks suiting for the name."

"Is he a trickster fox like you?"

"CHUCK!" Rachel snapped. "Finnick sounds like a great idea Nick. We'll name the runt that."

After more sharing of names, the last three kits were named Pam, Angie, and April. Nick realized that if he and Judy had kits, it would probably be a lot since rabbits usually had big litters.

 _All the more sons and daughters of ours's to love._

Nick put his arm around Judy and smiled as she looked happily at her aunt's kits. He saw her mother was slightly surprised and her father was too, but not in a good way.

 _"Judy?"_ Cassie said teasingly. "Is that your mate?"

"What makes you say that, being nosy Cass?" Judy teased, bopping her little sister's nose with one paw.

"He put his arm around you, and why would he be here if he was just your friend?" another sister asked.

Judy was too worried to look behind her, she could only guess the expressions of shock that her parents could have.

"He looks like a gentlefox, Judy." Rachel reassured her older sister.

"You are dating him?" Stu finally snapped. "A fox?"

"But Dad, don't you and Mom do business with a fox here in Bunnyburrow?" Cassie pointed out.

"Y-Yes dear but we've known him for years, he's never done a crime... _this fox_ has done crimes! _He shouldn't even be a cop!"_

Nick flipped around and snarled at Stu, spooking some of Judy's siblings. Judy's ears flattened and she looked to Nick concerned.

"I was _right,_ you should be with that Harvey rabbit." Stu said to Judy. "I suggest you leave Wilde."

Nick scowled and stormed out of the hospital room, Judy tried to follow but her mother stopped her.

"Dear, he's enraged. You're a rabbit...and he's a fox. What if something happens to you while you try to talk to him?" Bonnie asked her daughter.

Judy was shocked, she knew her mom was concerned about her dating Nick, but this?

Before Judy herself could burst into anger herself she moved away from her mother's paw and followed where Nick had took off.

She saw him sitting on a bench rubbing his head with his paws frustrated.

"You were right, we didn't think this through." Nick muttered as he noticed Judy. "I'm so stupid."

"You're not-"

"No, I like you a lot carrots. I'm not giving up on you." Nick interrupted. "I just didn't think that even your _parents_ would be like everyone else."

"It's not completely hopeless." Judy reassured him. "Rachel didn't mind."

"That's true...she did marry another species of rabbit." Nick added. "But I'm a fox and being with you bothers many animals. What if someone tries to hurt you? I couldn't live with myself."

"Nick, no one is going to hurt me. They may be close-minded but they're not crazy." Judy explained. "Besides we're cops."

Judy smiled as she joined Nick on the bench and hugged him, Nick rubbed her head and kissed it lightly. The bench was in a darkened area of the hospital, so no one rabbit could see the two of them holding each other but instead quickly passed by without noticing.

"Just think Nick, all these nephews and nieces I'll get to visit. And maybe my siblings will marry other animals and it'd be less weird." Judy told him.

"Yeah, maybe." Nick replied. "We should probably head back to Zootopia for work tomorrow. I'll check us out while you let your parents know."

"Okay Nick." Judy held his paw before letting go of it.

Judy said goodbye to her siblings, including her sister Rachel. She briefly thought about talking to her parents, but she walked past them. She felt bad about it but anger overwhelmed her more.

She'd call her parents when she settled down, but she needed a while to think things over.


	5. The Headliner

Nick walked in the ZPD the next day feeling better and Clawhauser looked happy to see him.

"I kept that Harvey fella away from Judy best that I could." Clawhouser said immediately. "Now that you're back, he should be working with the other officers."

"Thank you Spots." Nick smiled and headed to the bullpen where he saw Judy waiting eagerly for their next task.

What he noticed was that many of the officers weren't waiting impatiently for Chief Bogo, but pointing at newspapers in front of them and whispering quickly.

"Nick? What's wrong?" Judy asked as she noticed him looking around.

"Do you notice anything...unusual?" Nick asked her.

"Well, it's a little quieter." Judy replied. "Newspaper must be really good I guess."

"Are you kidding?" Officer Grizzoli gasped. "It's about Gazelle! She could be dating someone!"

"So? She dates all the time." Officer Fangmeyer retorted.

"But she might be dating a _predator!"_ Officer Francine finally said. "Could you believe that? Such a thing is unheard of!"

Nick and Judy looked at each other awkwardly and Judy nervously tapped the desk with her paws.

"What's...wrong with that?" Judy asked gingerly.

"Um, concerns about him _eating_ her? Duh." Officer McHorn grumbled.

"Aren't we past this?" Judy asked annoyed. "Can't anybody just date whoever they want?"

"Silly little bunny." Officer Grizzoli chuckled. "Even though you've been allowed as a fellow officer among us, not every species can do _every_ _single thing."_

"We date our own kind, dating another species is pushing it. Dating a _predator_ when you're _prey?"_ Officer Francine gasped. _"Unacceptable!"_

Judy's ears flattened and when she looked at Nick's face of subtle concern, and realized she shouldn't say anything further since the other officers would wonder if she herself was dating a predator.

 _But it's not like it's wrong! I don't get why I have to keep this to myself..._

Chief Bogo walked in the room and began assigning officers to different missions. When Harvey was assigned to a task with different officers, Judy noticed a dark look in those usually bright blue eyes.

When Officer Harvey began leaving with the other officers, he glanced at Nick and ran out unexpectedly.

"Well that was _weird..."_ Judy muttered.

"Doesn't he like you though?" Nick asked her.

"Yeah, but he usually happy-"

"Stop gossiping _girls."_ Chief Bogo growled. The remaining officers snickered.

When only Nick and Judy were waiting for Chief Bogo's command, he was reading the same newspaper that the other officers were reading.

"You two, I have a more personal mission." Chief Bogo explained. "Gazelle may be dating someone, and I need you two to find her whereabouts-"

"You're kidding." Judy scoffed.

"Officer Clawhauser will help you two. He keeps tabs on where she usually is." Chief Bogo ignored her comment. "You two are dismissed."

* * *

Nick comforted Judy, who was irritated, as they headed to Clawhauser's desk. The chubby cheetah was gushing as he flipped through pictures and articles of Gazelle, he almost didn't notice Nick and Judy there, but when he did notice, he smiled broadly.

"Hey guys!" Clawhouser purred. "So Gazelle should be at that big mall at the Rainforest District."

Judy didn't even want to ask how he got that information. She narrowed her eyes as she took the evidence from his big paw: it was a photo shot by a security camera of Gazelle leaving the room with a big black paw holding her hand.

 _Why are_ _us_ _police officers_ _being_ _sent_ _to_ _delve_ _into someone's personal business? This is ridiculous!_

"I know what you're thinking Carrots." Nick sighed as they headed to take the train to the Rainforest District. "This division of prey and predators is ridiculous, but it's not like it's just going to disappear right away Cottontail."

"Well, that aside, isn't it weird that we're being sent to spy on Gazelle?" Judy asked him.

"Well, a lot of the ZPD officers are interested in Gazelle." Nick told her. "But yeah, it's unusual."

After a few hours, the train made it to Rainforest District and Nick and Judy headed to the biggest mall there. They saw animals huddled in groups whispering. Judy looked to see Gazelle shopping, with a bodyguard nearby.

"Look! It's Judy Hopps Mommy!" A young Capybara shouted to her mother.

She ran to Judy and hugged her tight, but her mother was staring daggers at Gazelle. Judy wasn't too concerned till she saw a zebra walk to her and tap her shoulder.

"What is wrong with you?!" The zebra yelled at Gazelle. "Can't stick to your own kind you _freak!"_

Judy saw that Gazelle's bodyguard was looking the other way and pulled out of the child's grip and ran between Gazelle and the zebra.

"Sir, you need to calm down." Judy told the enraged zebra. His nostrils flared in outrage.

"Go back to the carrot farm you little runt!" The zebra snapped. "Aren't you dating that fox criminal anyway?! You're just defending her because you're a filthy interbreeder as well!"

"What?" Judy gasped, wondering how this zebra could have figured that out.

"It's all over the friggin' newspaper! What're you doing dating that thief?!" The zebra yelled.

" _He's_ _not a thief!"_ Judy froze as she saw a camera crew interrogating Nick outside of the store. It had become even more crowded and the capybara mom was now smiling.

 _I_ _can't_ _believe how specist so many of Zootopia's citizens are..._ _it's_ _completely horrible. And they must've taken pictures from when we were outside Elephant Garden, now everyone will know._

"Please leave the store sir. Not only were you harassing Gazelle, but you've harassed me." Judy hissed. "If you don't stop I'll have to arrest you."

"Make me furball." The zebra taunted her and she scowled.

She took out a pair of hoofcuffs and walked towards him, and was relieved when she saw Gazelle run off to her bodyguard in the other aisle.

The zebra smirked as he lifted his hoof and kicked Judy right in the chest, sending her flying into the window, smashing it into a million pieces.


	6. A Specist Society

"What? Even if we were dating it's none of your business!" Nick responded defensively to the camera crew before him. Suddenly he heard glass shatter behind him.

He turned around and saw Judy gasping for air with cuts all over her outfit. He looked around her, his eyes looking from the amused capybara mom to the zebra standing smugly feet away from Judy.

He realized that someone _did_ indeed hurt Judy because of their relationship, out of their hatred and refusal to understand love between prey and predator.

He showed his claws and wanted to tear the zebra apart from his flesh all the way to his bone. But Judy was quicker, she leaped off the shattered glass and pulled out her taser and tased the zebra without hesitation.

The zebra yelled as all his muscles froze and he tumbled over, and Nick was surprised to see Manchas appear from the crowd and sprint into the mall.

Judy walked to the zebra and cuffed his hooves and called for backup to take them home.

The camera crew pointed all their cameras to the zebra and flashed as many pictures as they could. The zebra cursed angrily as he couldn't move to stop any of the flashing.

Nick walked to Judy and tried to pick her up but she gave a small smile and moved from his paws.

"Don't worry, I'm fine." Judy laughed half heartedly. "Clawhouser should drive up outside in a few minutes. I just need...to..."

Judy fell over but Nick caught her and he felt horrified as he felt fresh blood on the cuts of her uniform. The old him would've kicked that zebra and screamed bloody murder at the crowd that seemed so eager to the drama, but now he never felt so small.

He picked Judy up in one arm and gently covered her face with his other paw so the cameras wouldn't catch too much evidence to add publicity to their relationship. He snarled at the zebra and dragged him by his shirt collar as they left the mall.

He walked to another side of the mall so by the time the camera crew made it's way around, they would've already left.

"Nick, wait!"

Nick turned around and to his surprise saw Manchas _and_ Gazelle walking to him hoof in paw. And Gazelle smiled weakly as she looked at the injured bunny in his arm.

"We really wanted to thank Judy for saving my girlfriend back there." Manchas purred.

Nick realized that Gazelle was indeed dating a predator and gave a big grin.

"Me and Judy have also been trying to hide our relationship, given many extreme specists wouldn't and haven't taken too kindly to it." Nick explained. "But Gazelle, if you told animals that you two were dating, maybe others would see it's not weird!"

"...or they'll yell at me and attack a police officer." Gazelle pointed out sadly, gesturing to the zebra Nick had dragged with his paw.

"Yeah, I guess there'd be an overwhelming amount of animals judging you for that." Nick sighed. "You two might wanna leave, the officer picking us up is a big fan of you, but he doesn't deserve to find out."

"Oh, well it was good to meet you two." Gazelle smiled warmly. "Thanks for keeping a secret."

"Course, bye Gazelle." Nick said as they left to a car with bodyguards surrounding them.

Soon minutes later Clawhauser drove up and after putting the tased zebra in the trunk, Nick got in the passenger seat and glared at Clawhauser.

"What happened to Judy?" Clawhauser whispered horrified.

"She got kicked into a window by a specist zebra, he's in the trunk." Nick snarled. "This is all your fault! And Chief Bogo's! You two just _had_ to know if she was dating a predator huh?!"

"I had no idea-"

"How did you think this was going to go well?" Nick growled. "Drive to the hospital already, Clawhauser."

The cheetah frowned and his tail dropped as he nodded slowly and drove to the Rainforest District's mall, awkward silence in the car the whole time as Nick looked at Judy with determination.

 _This society will change, it must for Carrots's sake. I can't have another incident like this ever happening again._

* * *

"Mom, look! My favorite show is on!"

"That's nice dear." Channary the capybara replied to her daughter.

Her and her daughter were back from the mall in a small apartment in the Rainforest District. The wallpaper of their apartment was green and brown and there were only two rooms, a small counter for the kitchen, and a living room with a couch big enough for two and a small TV.

And...there was one more room Tara knew never to go in. Her mother reminded her many times that the room was where she had lots of work to do, and needed to focus.

Channary was in that room right now, it was a small room with a big desk, computer, coffee mug full of utensils, and a printer. Above the desk was a bulletin board with many specism articles pinned on there, and in the bottom left corner was a picture of her role model.

Former Assistant Mayor Bellwether.

She always looked up to her and loved her articles that were in favor of prey, and was elated to learn that Bellwether was arrested for the crimes attempting to pin predators "returning to their natural instincts." She never trusted those foul creatures anyway.

And she never thought she'd see _them._ That fox and bunny dynamic that inspired many creatures in Zootopia that anyone can be anything.

"Bullspit." Channary growled as she drank her coffee at her desk, reading an online article about the so-called heroes. And her eyes widened when she read the headliner: _Zootopia_ _Officers Nick and Judy in love?_

She spit her coffee all over the computer screen and her eyes widened. It was already bad enough that rumors had spread about Gazelle dating a predator, but a bunny and a fox who shouldn't even be officers?

 _This city is quickly accepting interspecies relations more and more when these predators shouldn't even be here! They should be locked up in cages! Extinct even!_

Channary printed the article and pinned it to the bulletin board before getting a washcloth to clean up the coffee dripping on her computer screen. And then, she would get to planning.

After all, separating prey and predator was hard work.


	7. Not-So-Lucky Rabbit's Foot

Nick walked in the ZPD, several weeks having passed since the incident Justin Stripes as they now knew the zebra as, kicked Judy into a window. She was now healed and ready to work as usual.

The two of them were suspicious when they thought they saw the capybara mother around the ZPD, but there were probably many capybara mothers. It couldn't be a big deal for now.

Nick blinked in surprise as he walked in and saw it was noticeably absent of a few police officers.

"Several of them called in sick, said it was probably food poisoning." Chief Bogo told Nick as soon as he looked at the attendance. "However, we hadn't received a call from Officer Fangmeyer for more than 24 hours. So we'll have to call it a missing case."

"And I was originally going to send Officer Harvey and him on a investigation of a bank robbery, but since Officer Fangmeyer is _missing_..." Chief Bogo looked to the brown bunny listening intently. "He'll have to come with you to find him."

"Awesome." Officer Harvey whispered loud enough for Judy's ears to perk as she sat in her seat. "I mean, what a _shame_ Fangmeyer is missing. He's a cool guy."

Nick looked at Harvey and narrowed his eyes at him before turning around and having a seat till Chief Bogo was finished with announcements.

Nick and Judy got up out of their seats and began walking to Clawhauser's desk when they heard Harvey's paws scampering as he caught up to the two of them.

"Hey guys! Judy! Did you see my post on Pawbook?" Harvey asked with what Nick noticed was exaggerated enthusiasm. "I went out on a date with this beautiful French lop! She's a tennis player!"

"That's wonderful Harvey." Judy simply replied, giving the officer a small smile. "I better hop on over to the reception desk, time wasted is more time Fangmeyer is missing."

Judy went on ahead awkwardly leaving Nick and Harvey to walk by themselves to the desk. Nick saw Harvey's smile fade as he looked down at the floor as they walked.

"You alright buddy?" Nick asked Harvey.

He saw Harvey put his paws over his ears and give a stressed sigh before letting go of his ears.

"Course I am." Harvey lied. "Go on to your girlfriend, she's waiting."

Nick remembered that Harvey liked Judy and felt bad for him, but listened anyway and went on ahead to Judy.

"It says the last place Officer Fangmeyer was spotted was near the house of a black bear known as Henry Fisher." Judy explained. "So the first thing we should do is ask him a few questions. His home resides in the corner of Savanna Central."

"Sounds like one of your great ideas as usual." Harvey praised her with admiration in his gaze.

"Um, yeah. We should do it sooner than later Carrots." Nick growled, glaring at Harvey and becoming even more uncomfortable with him on the same mission as them.

* * *

Judy drove the police car with Nick in the passenger seat and Harvey in the back texting for some reason. And they finally pulled up to a small dull house at the end of a line of more small houses.

"This neighborhood could be a great place to live, maybe for a small family..." Judy smiled at Nick hoping he was thinking the same thing, and he was.

 _She's right, maybe when I have a little more money and we're married, one of these houses would be perfect for us to have a few kits. It's not even far away from the ZPD and-_

 _"Ahem."_ Harvey interrupted Nick's thoughts with a fake cough, the brown bunny was glaring at the two.

"Oh, right. Got lost into thought, thanks Harvey." Judy told him before she walked up to the dull house and knocked on the door several times.

A black bear that looked like he was in his 30's opened the door, he loosely wore a cap backwards and wore an over-sized green shirt and baggy shorts.

"Can I help you?" He muttered, looking very tired.

"Yes, one of our officers has been missing for enough time to be concerned. And the last place he was seen was by your house." Judy explained.

"Oh. Well come in then." Henry opened the door and let the three of them into his very unkempt home.

"So I wanted to ask if you've actually _saw_ him near your place." Judy started.

"I thought I might have saw him, um, driving up here to talk to someone." Henry tried to explain, trying to remember. "The other animal drove his car off, but I didn't see him."

"What did they look like?" Judy asked.

Oddly enough, Nick noticed Harvey looking uncomfortable in the end of the couch he was sitting, looking at his phone every few minutes.

Henry Fisher described to Judy that the animal that had talked to Officer Fangmeyer was definitely female and had light brown fur, and described the appearance of the car when all of them heard a knock on the door.

"Judy's interviewing Henry, and I _really_ want to see to it that my friend is okay." Harvey lied once more, seeming a lot less stressed. "You should probably get it."

Nick rolled his eyes and headed towards the door and kept a gun in his pocket, his right paw caressing the trigger in case this was a trap.

 _Do I really think Harvey would set me up like that? If anything he just wants to spend more time with Judy._

Nick let go of his gun and let it stay in his pocket when he opened the door.

Nobody.

"The hell is going on..." Nick whispered. _We all heard that knock, it couldn't have been my imagination..._

His ears perked when he heard paws shuffling away from the door and near the bear's backyard.

He walked forward and the last thing his mind registered was fierce green eyes before he felt a sharp force hit his head and fell into darkness.


	8. Harvey and the Channary

Nick's eyes began to open where he was, cuffed to a board that was frigid cold against his fur. He flinched when he saw a chubby figure walk towards him. He noticed warm water was brushing against his feet. And that the air smelled horrible.

He was in the sewers.

"Took a while for the dumb red crook to open his eyes." a female voice laughed cruelly. Nick growled at her very specist comment and recognized who she was.

The light brown fur, violet eyes, and black paws...this was the capybara mother from the mall the other day.

"Channary, if you need a name for me." the capybara mother stated, almost predicting his thoughts. "Predators in the ZPD, what were they thinking? It started with the boisterous lions and the sneaky wolves, then the fierce tigers. Then...they let the face of criminals join. _A fox."_

"You sound like Bellwether." Nick spat.

"I knew her before." Channary replied. "She was very sneaky about taking out predators, very precise. But her downfall was attempting to take you out in public. I have you subdued in the sewers, she'd be proud don't you think?"

"Why me?" Nick muttered. "Why not someone higher like Mayor Lionheart himself?"

"Because you're in the way of my Judy."

Nick's eyes widened when he saw Harvey walk next to Channary and look up at him smugly.

"What are you even talking about? She's _my_ girlfriend." Nick admitted.

"Exactly! That one date we went on...she didn't even seem to want me." Harvey whimpered. "Her mind seemed to be on something else, but I can fix her. It'll be _alright_ soon..."

"FIX HER?!" Nick's outraged yell echoed through the sewers. He violently slammed his feet against the board he was on and lashed his fangs out.

"I wish I brought my camera, that would have been _great_ footage to display all over Zootopia!" Channary snickered.

"But sadly, we have to get rid of you. We'd just put your fur on Fangmeyer's corpse and Judy will think you murdered him and then yourself." Harvey smiled evilly. "Devastated, she'll turn to me for comfort and then I'll become her mate."

"Then she'll be mates with her own kind instead of _you."_ Channary added.

Nick was so livid, he didn't do anything to deserve this. Loving Judy wasn't a fault! But it didn't seem to matter to them.

Harvey and Channary lifted the board with Nick still cuffed to it and tossed it in the raging sewer water, a scream was heard from the fox before it broke into gargles.

* * *

"Someone has to find Nick! I can't lose him Chief Bogo!"

Judy was pleading with him, but he just sighed with defeat. It had been a week and they couldn't find him.

"Judy, we can't find him. We've looked all over Zootopia." Chief Bogo told her. "I'm sorry."

"Please don't say that, you make it sound like he's _dead!"_ Judy snapped. "I'll find him if none of you can!"

"Judy, I don't want you to get worn out looking for him remember?" Harvey comforted her. "Let's go get ice cream again, it'll cheer you up this time."

"I don't want ice cream, _I want Nick!"_ Judy yelled, walking past Harvey and leaving the bullpen.

She had remembered every location they looked for Nick and tried to piece together where he might be, and she realized where they didn't look for him.

 _Underground!_

She went to the Zootopia Sewers and was surprised that none of the ZPD checked down here. She scowled.

 _They probably didn't want to get their_ _paws_ _wet, the cowards._

She walked close to the water and called for Nick, letting his name echo through the sewers. When she tried calling for him again, she stopped and screamed when she looked down at the sewer water.

Fangmeyer's body floated lifelessly, his clothes torn and his muzzle was tied up. It could only be murder.

"I told you not to go looking."

Judy looked and only several feet in front of her was Harvey.

"You killed him." Judy whispered.

"Nah, Channary killed the wolf." Harvey admitted. "However we both knocked your filthy rabbit-mating fox friend into the water cuffed to a board. If the water didn't kill him, starvation will."

"Then he could still be alive!" Judy gasped. "You traitor! Just wait till everyone finds out about this!"

"Tsk tsk tsk." Harvey hissed. "Judy Hopps, I care about you. _I love you._ I was hoping I could change you. But it's too late now, I can't because you're going to rat me out if I let you go."

"Tell Nick I said hey when you reach the hellhole where you two belong." Harvey growled. He ran at Judy when he shook violently mid-run and fell over.

Judy saw behind him was Nick panting heavily while holding a taser gun, looking drenched.

"It took forever to get out from there!" Nick gasped, he looked up at Judy with relief. "Carrots, I missed you. It's so dark down here."

"I have so many questions, how did you get out and where did you get the taser gun?" Judy asked.

"I kinda chewed my way out, the cuffs they used weren't exactly strong. And I met Channary halfway to getting here and took it from her." Nick explained. "Speaking of which, we have to go back and get her."

"Of course, but first..." Judy ran to Nick and he took her into his arms and the two kissed passionately with Nick holding Judy and Judy holding his face with her paws. They stopped and Nick smiled with bright green eyes.

"There's going to be more creatures trying to pull us apart, but I mean it when I say I'd rather die than ever let them do that." Nick confessed. "I love you."

"Do I love you too?" Judy teased, then kissed him on the nose.

"Yes, yes I do."


	9. Another Epilogue, Another Day

**One year later**

"No, it's my turn to ride on Uncle Nick's back!"

Nick chuckled as Rachel's kits fought to ride on his back while Judy was telling her sister about her and Nick's experience being foster parents.

It was after Harvey and Channary were arrested that the ZPD realized that left Tara without a mother. Not wanting her to end up in pup services, Nick and Judy volunteered to take care of her till someone would want to adopt her.

After five months, Nick and Judy crossed paths with Gazelle and Manchas who were not only romantically public but were also married and were interested in adopting as opposed to having kits and calves themselves.

They adopted Tara and one month later Nick proposed to Judy right outside the ice cream shop where they met.

Of course, many animals in Zootopia didn't react well. And one day Judy returned to her apartment to smell several stink bombs had gone off in there and almost all of her possessions had been destroyed or ruined while foul language had been written on her apartment walls. She had to move.

Nick and Judy went to the neighborhood they saw Henry Fisher at and found a small house with a garden that seemed to be dying. The former resident was an old lioness that was moving to a retirement home.

They got married four months later and had their honeymoon two months ago. Now, they were visiting Judy's siblings in Bunnyburrow including Rachel, who couldn't be at the wedding due to her kit Pam getting a fever.

"So was our Dad on a business trip during our wedding after all or did he just not want to accept his daughter being married to a fox?" Judy asked her sister.

"Um...I'm not supposed to answer that." Rachel replied shyly. "He was busy."

"Sure." Judy rolled her eyes. "At least Mom was happy to walk me down the aisle instead."

"You eat the whole cake there Judy? You look like you ate enough for five!" Cassie joked.

 _"Cassie!"_ Rachel snapped. "That's no way to talk to your older sister."

"No, she's right. I've been eating up a lot." Judy laughed. "I've been hungry and admittedly throwing a lot of it back up for more than a month. But I'm sure it's something bad I ate at the honeymoon that's taking a while to digest."

"For more _than a month?_ Judy I thought you were the smart one." Rachel sighed. "You're _pregnant and you_ _could_ _have them anytime."_

"What? But..." Judy winced and Rachel was shocked that 'anytime' was _now._

"Nick!" Rachel called.

Nick ran from the other room and stopped and looked shocked at Judy who was on the floor gritting her teeth.

"Don't gape at us, call the doctor!" Rachel snapped.

Nick ran to the phone and ten minutes later a rabbit doctor showed up and helped Judy into a bathtub as she was giving birth. Nick looked at her in shock and betrayal.

"She didn't know she was pregnant I promise." Rachel told him.

"How could she not know?!" Nick growled at Judy's sister.

"I just _didn't!"_ Judy hissed still in pain.

"I don't know if I'm ready to be a father so soon!" Nick gasped.

Rachel looked at Nick with sharp orange eyes and slapped him.

"Ow!" Nick yelped, putting a paw to his cheek. "What was that for?!"

"My sister could've heard you say that!" Rachel hissed through her teeth. "This is a very important day in our lives and I'm not letting you ruin it!"

Nick nodded and immediately felt bad for whining and being ungrateful, after all he did want kits. He just didn't expect it to happen so soon.

The doctor had the first kit already in his paws that was a fox-like male with Judy's eyes and bunny paws. And then a bunny-like female with grey fur and red patches. Then a grey fox-like male with Nick's eyes, and finally a red-orange bunny-like female with Nick's eyes as well.

Soon they were all nestled against Judy's shirt and Rachel paid for the doctor's service and then he left. Many of Judy's siblings were knocking on the bathroom door wanting to see her kits.

Rachel looked at the door irritated and gave a sharp _SHH!_ to silence their siblings.

"I love them." Judy smiled lovingly at her kits. "Nick did you see them?"

Nick's eyes widened with happiness as he looked at their kits, they hadn't even thought of names that much but they'd figure it out.

They decided Nathaniel as it sounded similar to Nick for the first kit's name. The gray and orange bunny-like kit was named Astrid while the grey fox-like male was named Arin and the red bunny-like female was named Zoey.

Rachel slowly opened the door and at least a dozen of their siblings poured in wanting to hold the kits.

"Told ya that you looked like you were eating for five." Cassie snickered. "Can I be their godmother?"

"You're too young Cass!" Judy laughed before flattening her ears tired. "No wonder I've been having cravings for Yorkshire Peppermint patties lately."

"I think we have an idea on who the godparents of our kits will be Cassie." Nick told Judy's sister, thinking of Manchas and Gazelle.

"Welcome to the world Nathaniel, Astrid, Arin, and Zoey Wilde." Rachel announced with pride. "May you grow up to make your parents proud."

Nick held Judy's paw while she was still in the tub. Their life would definitely be messy as a family of six in a small house working as officers to protect the city.

But the two looked forward to facing those trials together for them and their kits.


End file.
